Drake Maye is receiving praise from both head coaches, Jerod Mayo and DeMeco Ryans

A day later Drake Mayes Debut as NFL starter, Patriots coach Jerod Mayo praised the toughness the rookie showed during Sunday's 41-21 loss to the Texans.

Maye was sacked four times and hit eight times, and he finished 20 of 33 for 243 yards, with three touchdown passes and two interceptions. But his ability to stay in the pocket and take hits impressed the coach.

“We knew he could play with his legs. We knew he had a good arm and could really push the ball down the field,” Mayo said in a conference call Monday morning. “I would say the pleasant surprise was that he took a few shots yesterday. I think there were one or two where he was a little slow to get up. But I think he just showed his overall strength yesterday.”

Asked after the game how he was feeling, Maye said: “I’m fine. I think when you play quarterback in the NFL, you're going to be sore the next day. That’s part of it.”

As he did immediately after the loss, Mayo said the Patriots didn't support their rookie quarterback well, especially when it came to the running game. Maye was New England's leading rusher with five carries for 38 yards, much of which came on scrambles. As a team, the Patriots ran for 82 yards and averaged 3.2 yards per carry, both among their lowest marks of the season.

“I thought overall yesterday that Drake did a good job with his reads and getting the ball out,” Mayo added. “Was it perfect? No. Are we getting better? Absolutely. But we need to better support a rookie quarterback. Yesterday there was no running game, which we have been good at most of the year. And we just have to go back to basics.”

“Thanks to Maye,” Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said after the game. “His ability to escape is really good for them, and I think it’s positive for him. Being able to pull it down and, if something isn’t there, be able to make plays on the run.”

Maye was able to perform despite further changes to the offense, which had its sixth starting group in six games at the start of the year. It was a group that included the center Ben Brownwho made his first start with the Patriots. Brown, who was signed off the Las Vegas practice squad last Wednesday, ended up taking one hit after another.

“It's one of those things I've never seen before – a guy who can come here after four or five days and become the starting center,” Mayo said. “He did a great job. I would say he was probably our best lineman yesterday.”

“Drake brought me up to speed very quickly,” Brown said Monday. “I was able to work with him and try to do all the things quickly that you normally work on all year, like the cadence and all the points in the run game or all the points on defense. He really helped me – he was just confident out there and could play fast and free.

“I thought Drake was great. I think he handled it perfectly. I think he’s really taken control of our offense.”

On the other side of the ball, Mayo continued to be upset with the defensive performance. The Patriots scored the most points in a regular-season game since the Chiefs lost 42 points to them in the 2017 opener. There were a number of areas of concern, but the 192 rushing yards allowed and two runs of over 50 yards stood out.

Asked about the mishaps in the two big wins, Mayo said: “Bad running form, bad tackling.” And then we couldn't catch them. If you take this away, it looks much better. But at the same time, that's exactly what the NFL is all about. You have to limit these big games.”

“He said it perfectly,” linebacker Jahlani Tavai said of Mayo’s comments. “We didn’t do our job. When it comes down to it we have to make sure we attack the man who has the ball. We were just a bit sloppy on these two pieces. And we have to fix the problem because teams will try to pit them against us soon.”

Leverett is released

The Patriots released an offensive lineman Nick Leverett. A veteran who initially served as a backup center for David Andrewshis release likely clears the way for Brown to start at center and move forward. …Right guard Mike Onwenu was one of four Patriots offensive linemen to play every snap, a group that included Brown, Maye and Tackle Demontrey Jacobs. On the other side of the ball Kyle Dugger played 100 percent of the defensive snaps. Through six games, Onwenu is the only player on the roster who hasn't missed a snap. …Long snapper Joe Cardona was on the injury report with a calf issue, but was adjusted late in the week to accommodate a personal issue. On Monday, Mayo said Cardona “had a family matter that he needed to take care of and we allowed that to happen.” Tucker Addington handled long snaps against the Texans. … Aside from declined or offset penalties, the Patriots have been called away 19 times in the last two games. It is the most penalties for a New England team in two games since 19 penalties were called in two games in December 2018. … The Patriots have signed a defensive back Mile battle to the practice squad, according to a league source. The 6-foot-3-inch, 196-pounder was undrafted out of Utah but had a stint with the Chiefs earlier this season. In college at Utah and Mississippi, he had three interceptions and 19 passes defensed.

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Christopher Price can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @cpriceglobe.